PLAN 5220

Real Estate Finance Fundamentals is one of the classes of all time. Overall, the biggest and really only main skill you learn from this class is how to use the financial calculator. The organization of the class is somewhat messy, and Prof Fred Rowe is a busy person, granted. He may not be too fit to be a professor in the traditional sense. He would be a great mentor and person to connect with if you want to go into the real estate field. However, he does not effectively teach a lot of content. He knows how to do the problems himself by showing his process, but he never explains the fundamentals, really. He shows us how to do the problems. We never had to learn the cash flow formula; for example, we just had to know how to plug it into his calculator.

Also, if you have a Texas Instruments calculator, you are good. You don't need to buy the calculator that the professor tells you to, although it may make you look more professional. The TI calculators do everything that you need them to do.

The professor rambles sometimes in class and ends up teaching almost the same thing multiple times. There are two tests in the semester and a final exam. The two tests are relatively alright if you pay attention in class. The final project's evaluation/grading is also relatively relaxed. Funnily enough, people who also take the 3000-level real estate class and end up doing a better pro forma than students who only take this 5000-level class.

The most interesting and insightful part of the class for me is when the professor talks about his career and some "practical advice" about working. Prof Fred Rowe has a real estate company right in Charlottesville and rents out student housing, and he does not develop housing anymore. He used to develop housing and work on Wall Street as a real estate broker or in a higher position. His main message is just to work hard and really pour yourself into the work. Also, real estate is not a passive field in any way; you have to be active to remain on top. He raises the example of him fixing the toilets himself for many of his properties to save costs.

Overall, almost no homework in the class; when there is, it may take one hour max.